Sovereignty & Free Will
Systematic Theology
I. Definitions
a.
Sovereignty –
freedom from outside interference and the right to self-government
b.
Free Will – “[S]elf-determination. The power of contrary choice is one form of manifestation of this
self-determination power.” – E.Y. Mullins.
It is the power to make a choice.
II. The Quandary
a.
Everyone agrees
that God is “sovereign” but they don’t agree on what that means.
b.
Most will say
that man has “free will” but, again, they don’t mean the same thing when they
say this.
c.
Many authors seem
to be inconsistent. They will claim that
man has free will in one chapter but then define sovereignty in such a way as
to make free will impossible.
d.
If we define
sovereignty in such a way that nothing can happen without God decreeing it,
free will cannot exist.
e.
If we define free
will in such a way that God cannot interfere with it, man becomes sovereign and
God cannot be.
III. Biblical Statements on Sovereignty (not exhaustive)
a.
“Whatever the
Lord pleases, he does” – Psalm 135:6
b.
“For the Lord of
hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it?
And as for his stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?” – Isaiah 14:27
c.
“My purpose will
be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure” – Isaiah 46:10
d.
“For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” –
Psalm 33:9
e.
“He does whatever
he pleases” – Psalm 115:3
f.
“All the
inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His
will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can
ward off His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You
done?’” – Daniel 4:35
g.
“The lot is cast
into the lap; but its every decision is from the Lord.” – Proverbs 16:33
IV. Calvinistic Views of Sovereignty & Free Will
(Decree view of sovereignty)
a.
Sovereignty
i.
Calvinism takes,
as its root, the sovereignty of God. It
was invented in a time when the Roman Catholic Church was corrupt and placed
emphasis on man rather than God. It
reacted to the elevation of man by elevating God at the expense of man.
ii.
The term used to
describe God’s will is his decree. God
has many decrees but these all make up one larger, complex decree.
iii.
This decree-based
view of sovereignty leaves no space for free will. Everything is pre-determined by God. God is even (sometimes) the author of sin.
1.
“The decrees of
God are his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for
his own glory, he hath fore-ordained whatsoever comes to pass” – Westminster
Shorter Catechism
2.
“The conjuncture
of God’s absolute freedom and His Creatorship results in the doctrine of God’s
decrees: the soul-comforting truth that
God has wisely and perfectly decreed whatsoever comes to pass in this universe….[N]othing [is] beyond the
positive decree of God.” – James White
3.
“Nothing comes to
pass contrary to his decree. Nothing
happens by chance. Even moral evil,
which he abhors and forbids, occurs ‘by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God.’” - Shedd
b.
Free Will
i.
With God’s
sovereignty defined as determining everything that comes to pass, there is no
room left for human will.
ii.
Calvinists
declare that man has free will but define that term in such a way that one can
only will in a specific direction.
1.
Some say we can
choose anything but God sets up circumstances such that we will always make a
specific choice. If hungry and given the
choice between steak and vomit, anyone would choose steak. It is like that with our will. We may feel that we have choices but in
reality, we do not.
2.
Others say we can
will freely but only within the scope of our desires. God sets our desires in specific ways. For example, reprobate sinners cannot desire
to seek God so they will never will to seek him.
3.
Some deny free
will altogether. In reality, all deny it
in any normative sense. There is no
self-determination.
c.
Defense of this
view
i.
Arguments for
free will are defended against by pointing out that no will is truly free. We cannot will to do anything. We cannot will ourselves to fly. (Is will choice or is will action?)
ii.
It is often
repeated that the Bible declares both the Sovereignty of God and the
Responsibility of Man. We may not be
able to fully comprehend this—like we cannot fully comprehend the Trinity—but
we must accept it.
iii.
God cannot
foreknow without foreordaining. (Why this is is
unclear but this argument is proffered often).
d.
Difficulties
i.
If God truly
determines everything that goes on, then God becomes the author of sin.
ii.
If all is
predetermined, prayer has no efficacy.
Nothing changes.
iii.
Predetermination
leads to fatalism.
iv.
Paradox: If there is no free will, one cannot believe
in free will or determinism. “If my
mental processes are totally determined, I am totally determined to accept or
reject determinism.” These very
keystrokes are not mine, but God’s. Life is all a game. There can be no logic, no argument, no
belief, no rational human thought.
v.
How is “divinely
inspired” scripture any different than a John Grisham novel? Both were written by God.
vi.
What about God’s
other attributes?
V. An Alternative View of Sovereignty (Kingship view of
sovereignty)
a.
Sovereignty
i.
God is sovereign
as a King is sovereign, only more absolutely.
God can make any decision he wants and no one can question it. That doesn’t mean he has to make every
decision to be made.
ii.
God is so great
that he can create free will. He can
allow us to make choices without determining them in advance. He can grant self-determination. No human can do this.
iii.
God *can*
over-ride human will, but he chooses not to.
He is still above it.
iv.
Note that all
descriptions of God’s power are selective and proscriptive. He can do what he wants when he wants. If he wills something, no one can over-rule
it. This doesn’t mean he has to will
everything.
b.
Free Will
i.
Human will is
clearly limited by our fallen state. We
cannot do anything that meets the just demands of God.
ii.
This does not
mean man cannot do good. “If you do good to those who do good to you,
what credit is that to you? For even
sinners do the same.” – Luke 6:33
1. What about Ecc 7:20 – “For there is not a just man upon earth, that
doeth good, and sinneth not.” (KJV)?
a. This verse is
poorly translated in the King James.
NASB says ”continually sins” and “never
sins.” NIV renders the last clause
“never sins.” The statement here is one
that man is inherently sinful, not that he is continuously sinning.
b. Ecc 3:12 states
than the answer to this “vanity” is to do good. Clearly the author believes good is possible.
2. What about
Romans 3:11-12 – “There is none who understand, there is none who seeks for
God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none
who does good, there is not even one.”
a. The quoted
verses come from Psalm 14:2 and 53:2.
b. Psalm 14:2 is
in reference to the fool. David says in
verse 5 “For God is with the righteous generation.” Clearly there are some righteous for these
fools to oppress.
c.
Psalm 53:2 is also in the context of the fool.
d. Paul is using
these verses to show that man is fallen and cannot save himself. He validates this view with verse 20 where he
makes it clear that they cannot be made righteous by observing the law. Paul quotes from the Old Testament to give
weight to his argument that all are sinners and cannot save themselves.
e.
The Bible is full of commands to seek God. He would not demand that which cannot be
done. 1 Chronicles 28:9 says, “If you
seek him, he will let you find him.”
Clearly we can seek him.
iii.
Man can know of
God and recognize his fallen state. Man
is without excuse. Romans 1:18-20 and
2:14-15 confirm this.
iv.
Whether or not
man can choose to accept God’s gift of salvation will be covered in great
detail later.
VI. The Cumulative Case for Free Will
a.
We cannot
meaningfully praise God without free will.
i.
Humanity’s reason
for existence is to praise and glorify God. (Rev 4:8-11, Eph 1:12.
ii.
Without free
will, praise means nothing. I can type
in this paper, “Steve is a great teacher,” but it won’t be pleasing to me to
read it. Only if someone else says it
does it have value.
b.
The tone of the
Bible is one of free will. God commands
men to seek, follow, repent, and believe.
He extends these commands to “whosoever” and the world. God gives commands with rewards for following
and punishment for disobeying (Deut 28-30).
God holds men accountable for their actions (Jeremiah 25:7, 31:30) and
ascribes their actions as the cause of calamity (Rom 11:11 & 20, Jeremiah
17:4).
c.
God does not
proscribe all action. Several times in
Jeremiah God states that he did not cause or even imagine the sin done by the
nations of Israel and Judah (Jeremiah 19:5, 29:23, 32:35).
d.
God can change
his mind. He chooses to grant humans a
sphere of self-determination and reacts to our decisions.
i.
Jeremiah 18:7-10
makes this clear: “At one moment I might
speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot it, to pull down,
or to destroy it; if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its
evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. Or at another moment I might speak concerning
a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; if it does evil in
My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think
better of the good which I had promised to bless it.”
ii.
God declared that
he would destroy Ninevah but when Jonah preached, the
people repented. God spared the city
destruction, much to the chagrin of Jonah.
e.
Men argue with
God and he relents.
i.
Abraham bargains
with God over
ii.
Moses talks God
out of destroying the nation of
f.
If people are
unwilling to act, God uses non-humans to enact his will. He doesn’t force humans to act.
i.
Luke 19:40 says,
“If these [people/crowd] become silent, the stones will cry out!” Jesus needed to be praised and if people
weren’t going to do it, he would use the rocks.
Notice he didn’t force the people.
ii.
When Jonah won’t
go to
iii.
When Balaam tries
to curse the people of God, he uses a donkey to persuade him.
g.
God uses people
to accomplish his will. If they choose
not to be part of it, he will route around them. His will is always accomplished. Individuals may choose to participate or
not. They cannot, however, hinder God’s
plan. This is made clear in Mordecai’s
letter to Esther. “If you remain silent
at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place
and you and your father’s house will perish.” – Esther 4:14.
h.
Satan’s
conversation with God concerning Job makes little sense if everything is
proscribed ahead of time. If Job can’t change his mind, what is the point
of the exercise? Why does Satan bother?
i.
The Bible teaches
moral responsibility. Moral
responsibility implies free will. It
makes no sense to say “ought” if the person has no ability to do it. We don’t say that babies “ought” not to cry
because they cannot help themselves.